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274 pp. Illustrated with numerous plates included in the pagination, some inserted or tipped in, many in color. 23x17.5 cm (9x6¾"), gilt-lettered cloth. First Edition.

Scarce paean to nature and its mystical wonder, the privately printed, and virtually hand-made, first edition of the childhood journal of the then 21-year-old American nature writer and diarist. Inscribed and signed, quite boldly, on the front free endpaper, "To Mrs. Fred Betts, May the Fairyland Around Us bring joy to you and yours, Sincerely, Opal Stanley Whiteley." The book was printed by the Publishers Printing Co., and bound by the Sunset Bindery in Los Angeles. The many color plates are from different sources, most tipped-in or inserted, as if the book was hand-made, but the illustrations are included in the pagination, so it must have been planned out in advance.